1FMRIB Centre, University of Oxford,
Oxford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom; 2OPTIMA, University of Oxford

We investigated
the impact of B vitamin treatment on grey matter (GM) loss over a 2 year
period on cognitively impaired elderly. Using FSL-VBM, we found significant
loss of GM in placebo and vitamin groups. However, the GM loss was
significantly smaller over time in the vitamin group compared to the placebo
group in regions vulnerable to the Alzheimers disease process and showing
marked atrophy in the placebo group. Remarkably, higher levels of plasma
homocysteine were associated with significantly increased GM atrophy, but
this deleterious effect was compensated for by the B vitamin treatment.